Rebuilding Opportunity Clubs

REBUILDING OPPORTUNITY CLUBS

By Alfred Roy Herzing, DTM PIP

To rebuild Low Membership (or Opportunity) clubs, I recommend you put on a Speechcraft Program. Speechcraft is a four, six, or eight-week program that teaches speaking skills to non-Toastmasters. Properly run, a Speechcraft will result in a quick infusion of 10 - 15 members to the club.

In planning your Speechcraft, make sure that the meetings are held at the same location at the same time as the regular Club Meetings. So during the Speechcraft program, the Speechcraft meetings replace the regular meetings. You don’t want to have a Speechcrafter participate in a program on Thursday night and then when you want them to join your club on Wednesday night you lean that Wednesdays are their class nights.

Market your Speechcraft to Non-Toastmasters - talk about getting an edge in today’s tough job market, make yourself more promotable, etc. Create a sense of urgency by indicating on the flyer: LIMITED TO 15 OPENINGS. For company clubs, get a quote from a high ranking official in the company stating their support of the Toastmasters program. Don’t feel that you have to use the name “Speechcraft” when marketing the program. This is a Toastmasters term that your “prospects” probably won’t be familiar with.

Charge enough for the Speechcraft to cover your club’s expenses, and the first 6 months dues. That way at the end of the program you can offer the Speechcrafter the option of becoming a member of the club at no additional cost. Using this technique, I have had about a 80% success rate in converting Speechcrafters to members. Sometimes we get 100% of the Speechcrafters that complete the program to join the club! You can make people more comfortable with paying a higher fee by offering a money back guarantee. (“Attend 7 out of 8 of the sessions and if you don’t feel you received your money’s worth, we will refund your fee.”)

Often in low membership clubs, there are problems in having complete, high quality meetings week after week. Speechcraft solves this problem. The few existing members provide the educational talks, and the Speechcrafters provide the rest of the program. Speechcraft also provides the answer for those members that complain about not knowing what to talk about for their manual speeches. No problem, next week we need a 5-7 minute speech on “How to Organize a Speech.” The speaker can use the Toastmasters Competent Communication Manual, Speech #2 for research material. But the speech can apply for other manual speech objectives.

I recommend that you do noy sell the Speechcrafters immediately on becoming Toastmasters. Initially, just sign them up for the six or eight week program. At the end of the program, talkto the Speechcrafters about joining your club. (“You have built a skill during this program that will help you the rest of your life. The best way to keep this skill sharp and to continue to grow is to join our Toastmasters Club. If you join our club upon completion of this Speechcraft, you will get credit for the speeches you gave in the program. This means you are already 1/2 way to earing the Competent Communicator designation. And if you join upon completion of this program, your dues are already paid for the first 6 months!”) Who could say no?

For more information about how to start a Speechcraft – including a sample flyer, please contact AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA, DTM, District X Club Growth Director at (BBB) BBB-BBBB or email .